There are Signs the Dominant Narrative Around Israel is Finally Cracking
According to The Times of Israel, Israeli officials are increasingly concerned that American public opinion is starting to turn against them.
“In recent meetings with US Jewish leaders,” the paper reported yesterday, “senior Israeli officials both within and outside the government expressed their satisfaction with the Biden administration’s handling of last month’s Israel-Gaza conflict, while conveying significant concern regarding trends in the Democratic Party, where criticism of Israel has increasingly gone mainstream.”
Israel has reason to be concerned. While the Israeli government – with the help of the Biden administration – has attempted to frame Israel’s most recent bombardment of Gaza as a simple act of self-defense against Palestinian rocket fire, there are signs that more and more Americans are starting to ask basic questions about Israel’s brutal, and illegal, decades-long military occupation of Palestinian land.
If you’re looking for resources to help clarify the key issues involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially as longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu desperately clings to power on the eve of a crucial vote this weekend, be sure to check out the films and videos we’ve selected below.
We want to call particular attention to the acclaimed documentary The Occupation of the American Mind, which looks at how US news media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been shaped by American and Israeli government propaganda. Click here to watch the film through your university or public library on the Kanopy streaming platform. Or click here to stream it free on Youtube.
We also urge you to check out two sold-out events we organized on the intensifying backlash against pro-Palestinian voices, especially on American college campuses. Featuring Cornel West, Linda Sarsour, Roger Waters, Marc Lamont Hill, and others, both events – Not Backing Down: Israel, Free Speech & the Battle for Palestinian Rights and Criminalizing Dissent: The Attack on BDS and Pro-Palestinian Speech – made national headlines when right-wing groups tried to shut them down, and are also streaming free online.
